For a multi-family residential building, such as a condominium complex, installation of fiber optic cable service to the building first requires connecting a large number of individual optical fiber cables bundled within one or more trunk cables from a telecommunications service provider to a centralized service terminal in the building. Each individual fiber-optic cable in the trunk cable can be intended for a different residence within the building. However, since every resident of a condominium building shall not subscribe for fiber-optic service immediately, and installing service to all residents in the building can take place over a period of years, there is a question about the best storage location for each individual fiber-optic cable, also known as a “drop.”
One technique currently used is to run each individual fiber-optic cable from the centralized service terminal behind hollow, snap-on type wall molding in the hallways of the multi-family complex to the front door area in the hallway immediately outside a respective residence. The molding can be located on the wall near the ceiling or at the wall/ceiling line. Then, the cable installer leaves a coil of that cable of sufficient length for eventual installation purposes in a storage box in the hallway outside that residential unit. This is usually not popular with residents because a storage box is unsightly and inconvenient and that box can remain there for years.
Another technique is to run each individual fiber-optic cable behind the molding as before, but to coil a sufficient excess amount at each resident's front door area and try to tuck the coiled excess behind the hollow, snap-on molding, in an attempt to provide a better storage location. However, this generally causes a bulge behind the molding, resulting in a misfit between the molding and the molding-retainer to which it is attached. If the molding is disturbed in this manner, it thereafter tends to loosen and/or detach from the wall in the hallway. This result is also unacceptable to the residents.
Therefore, a need exists for a technique to provide convenient and invisible locations, in a multi-family residential building and/or a multi-tenant commercial building, at which to store fiber-optic cable, while the telecommunications company awaits requests for fiber-optic service inside each individual residence or commercial space.